[mythtv-users] MythTV on Kodi

[Ben Healy]

From: Joseph Fry <joe at thefrys.com>
 To: Discussion about MythTV <mythtv-users at mythtv.org> 
 Sent: Wednesday, 24 June 2015, 9:07
 Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] MythTV on Kodi
   


I am not suggesting its a more capable frontend... I think it needs a lot of work in that area... but as a pure media player I would say it is better than mythfrontend for several reasons:   
   - vast array of plugins allowing access to a wealth of content from the internet and integration with other content servers such as plex, mediabrowser, and mythtv of course.  As well as integration with iphoto, Picasa and Flickr for photos.
   - Built in networking configuration (can connect to a server and it's content all with the remote)
   - Hardware decode support on a lot more hardware   

   - Multiple user support, each with own library, skins, and configuration.
   - Much more forgiving metadata import, and more accurate too (I can put the release year in the filename to ensure it gets the right one every time)
Please understand that have been with mythtv since 2003 and my family and I love it.  Nothing above is to suggest that Mythtv isn't a great player.  I personally think Kodi has some UI issues, while I'm sure can be fixed with skinning and settings, I haven't been able to achieve the level of user-friendliness I have with Mythfrontend.



I find we use kodi more than Mythfrontend when watching videos, but always Mythfrontend for watching recordings (and scheduling). In the past I have had more audio sync issues with Myth than kodi.
I agree that the kodi interface is not that user friendly. In fact I think it's less user friendly now than it was when it was on the old xbox, but it can also do a lot more than those days.
The things that bug me the most about the interface are:- That flyout menu on the left- It's too easy to get back to a menu with the video still playing- As someone mentioned, if you leave a menu and go back to the main menu it takes you to where you were. This is possibly useful for some, but can be very confusing.

Here are some adjustments I made in an attempt to make kodi more friendly for the mythfrontend users in my house:
- created a Lircmap.xml file in the userdata folder with the following:<lircmap>
    <remote device="mceusb">
        <guide>Guide</guide>
        <title>DVD</title>
    </remote>
</lircmap>

This is to make the guide button on my mceusb remote open the EPG in the Myth PVR addon. It also makes the DVD Menu button map to the Context Menu in kodi (as the DVD Menu was previously mapped to the guide button).
- created a keyboard.xml file in the userdata/keymaps folder with the following:<keymap>
   <FullscreenVideo>
      <keyboard>
         <backspace>stop</backspace>
      </keyboard>
   </FullscreenVideo>
   <FullscreenLiveTV>
      <keyboard>
         <backspace>stop</backspace>
      </keyboard>
   </FullscreenLiveTV>
</keymap>
This is to stop the video playing if exiting with the back command rather than pressing "x' to stop.

- created a remote.xml file in the userdata/keymaps folder with the following:<keymap>
  <FullscreenVideo>
    <remote>
      <guide>ActivateWindow(TVGuide)</guide>
      <back>Stop</back>
    </remote>
  </FullscreenVideo>
  <FullscreenLiveTV>
    <remote>
      <guide>ActivateWindow(TVGuide)</guide>
      <back>Stop</back>
    </remote>
  </FullscreenLiveTV>
  <TVGuide>
    <remote>
      <guide>PreviousMenu</guide>
      <back>PreviousMenu</back>
    </remote>
  </TVGuide>
</keymap>

This is to display the guide when the guide button is pressed during video playback, take you back to where you were when you opened the guide and stop the video playing if exiting with the back command rather than pressing "x' to stop.
I have removed some of the contents of these files as I think it would be specific to me and how I have mapped the volume up and down keys to page up and down in both Mythfrontend and Kodi.
Hope this is useful to someone. If so I should probably add it to a wiki somewhere, but not sure if it's more appropriate in the Kodi wiki in the Mythtv PVR addon section or in the MythTV wiki in the xbmc section??
Ben
 
   
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